Reaching For Your Hand: An 'Brothers in Arms' Fan Story. Part III
#4 of Of Gods and Men.
The third chapter of Cassius and Charr's story. As always, co-writen by Isle and myself. Comments and feedback is appriciated.
Summary: As tragedy strikes, the easy agreement between Cassius and Charr faces an uphill battle while Cassius still struggles with the notion of confessing how he feel for Sergeant Gadot. Yet time is ever ticking...
Cassius found himself in the rare positon of feeling uncomfortable for the first time in Charr's presence. Not becasue of anything Charr could do, but from the fact that he wasn't sure he'd be able to control himself or his actions, knowing that their time together was more or less running out. At the very least, he wanted to tell Charr just how much he'd come to mean to him. Even if he knew Charr still loved his wife, and would mostly likely reject him, like so many others, he wanted to do more, but the fear of Charr possibly taunting him wouldn't let go.
Enclosed in a military veicle and trapped in a rain-storm, didn't make things easier.
It had been a few stormy weeks internally, too; he'd tried to distance himself a bit from Charr without making it painstainkingly obvious, but he didn't know if he had succeeded.
Cassius clenched at the front of his pants with a hand, teeth gritted in silent, mounting frustration. He needed to say something, anything, to make the stiff silent go away.
"Seriously, if it keeps pouring down like this we might not get back to HQ before tomorow. You'd think they'd reccon this sort of thing..."
"You gotta learn to be patient. Otherwise, you're temper will get the best of you." Charr scolded Cassius, then also looked outside. "That said, this rain sucks ass."
Cassius smirked softly. "Been there, done that." He turned his head to look at Charr. "And don't scold me, please. We're both too old for that." Cassius said with half-smile.
"Old habits die hard," the gruff sergeant laid back, huffing with boredom.
"That's very true..." Cassius laid back as well, thick arms folded behind his head in a makeshift pillow.
Charr sighed, feeling his boredom hit its peak. "At times like this, I could go for a beer."
"Yeah, a beer dosen't sound so bad...maybe even two!" Cassius said with smile.
Remembering something, Charr poked through his bag, intently looking for something.
Cassius peered at him, letting out a curious hum at what could be so important to find.
"Hell yeah! I found it!"
"Found what?"
"Found my cards." He reveald a deck of playing cards.
Cassius grinned. "Alright, let's play. Bets?"
"Hehehe, if I win, you stop complaining about my sleep farts. But, if you win, I'll strip. How about that?" He smiled with a goofy grin.
"You're impossible." Cassius shook his head with a smile. "Fine, though don't expect a handicap--I'm playing to win!"
"Alright! Let's get to it." Charr dealt the cards and started the game. At first, he appeared to be close to winning, gloating and making crude jokes about his butt. However, at the last moment, Cassius produced a greater hand, winning the game and the bet.
"You had cards like that the whole time!?" Charr blushed, flustered that he lost.
"A true expert dosen't reveal his secrets." Cassius lighty waved the card before dropping it onto the pile.
Then, he slowly unziped his pants. "Can I have my prize now, or would you rather wait util we're back in the HQ with a real bed....? I have had fun, so don't feel obliged to do anything you don't wanna do..." His cheer falters slighty in the end, and he was quick to smile again.
In his mind, Charr probably only would keep the barganing due to losing fair and square; Cassius wouldn't have been surprised if he'd like to have the younger, more virile Prowess in bed than him.
"You making fun of me...?" His voice got intimidating, but as close as Cassius was to him, he could tell that he was playing. "You think I'm a pussy that goes back on his word?" He stood and turned around, sticking his butt out slightly before placing his hands on his belt. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to, eh?" He grinned a naughty-looking grin, the distinct sound of a belt being undone breaking the silence.
"N-No that's--not what I meant..." Cassius stuttered, taken of guard, and half of his mind were focued on Charr's ass, so close and within reach. "I just mean..." His head lowered. "I can understand if you'd like someone more compatable, like for example Coporal Prowess..."_Damn it, why am I saying all this right now, why not later!_Cassius thought furiously at himself.
"Hey! We're soldiers! None of that stuff matters here! When you're out on the field with a boner that won't quit, it's up to your comrades to lend some ass!" It was clear that his over the top attitude here was just him having fun, but as if to emphasize his sentence, he lowered his camo pants, his giant, round, spotted cheeks spilling out of his pants and underwear. Charr looked back, smiling smugly.
Cassius smiles, before he slips out of his pants and throws off the rest of his clothes. "Then let me be of use, Sir," he says, cock jutting out, thick, long and impressive. "But first..." He leans in, a quick soft nip to one ass cheek, before he begins to lap and lick at Charr's entrance, holding his tail away with a hand.
Charr grunts a little, before chuckling and smacking his asscheek. "Too juicy for ya!?"
"No, just been wanting to do that for a while..." Cassius replies before diving back in with twice amount of gusto as he swirls and dips his tongue against Charr's anus. "Come on, just relax and enjoy it, I know this is your weak spot..."
He leans his hips back, shoving his ass against Cassius's face, taking pleasure in enveloping this muzzle with pure asscheek.
After a while, the panther pulls back, panting. "Charr I--I can't take it. I need that ass...!" He's so hard it hurts, precum dripping from the tip and down over his thick veins and full balls.
"What's stopping ya? Get in there!" Teasingly, Charr wiggles his large booty after arching his back.
That does it. Cassius snaps. He lines himself up, so eager he's shaking. He sinks inside, in and further in, hot tightness clutching at every inch of his cock. He grimaces in pleasure as he grabs hold of Charr's hips. "S-Shit you're still so tight, it feels good..."
"You gonna shove that thing in or just fiddle with my asscheeks!?"
"Fine, take it all, pushy!" He pulls back and slams inside, their balls smacking together, soundly, as they begin to fuck in earnest, while the rain keep falling outside of their van.
"Hnnng!" Charr let out a genuine growl, the pressure and pain all to familiar and pleasurable. He moaned quietly, as he hole fit tightly onto the cock that thrust inside so vigorously. "That's more like it....!"
Cassius flips them so Charr is on his back, Cassius on top in the mating press position. "Not so tough now, huh? I wanna watch that face of yours while I fuck you." He slams in, feels the head of his cock prod hard at Charr's sweetspot. "Nn...Some nice clenche there, Charr. You must really have missed my cock, eh?" Cassius grins wickedly before he starts moving again.
"Heh! Tough enough to hand that rifle you're carrying." He grinned, but then winced as Cassius got more intense. His ass clenched as Cassius reached the sweet spot, making even the stone tough leopard groan with pure ecstasy.
Cassius trust harder, hearing and seeing the pleasure on Charr's face, more open than he'd ever seen it before, makes him go wild as he hammers their bodies, guided by both of their grunts and groans and the heavenly friction around his cock.
The atmosphere became hot and a but steamy, their bodies merging in the most personal and lewd way. Yearning for pure release, the two let their bodies go wild, Charr clenching and shaking his butt a bit to much Cassius's thrusts.
"S-Shit, I'm gonna cum...gonna fill you up!" Cassius' drool spilled down his chin, powerful muscles covered in sweat as he fucked like his life dependend on it. He tightend his hold on Charr's body, eyes locking with the sarge's. He pounded harder, the need, the want for the satisfaction of seeing his lover cum at the same time as he mingling with his own burning need to finish.
"Yeah.... me too!!! Spill that milk, soldier!" Charr urging him on sent Cassius into overdrive, straining and breathless as he began to inch over the edge, his cock slick and throbbing and swelling in warning as his control slipped away, fraction by fraction, inch by shuddering inch.
"UOOOOOH!" Cassius threw his head back with a roar as the hot singe of his orgasm took hold, exploding through him like an all-consuming inferno, he began to dump his load deep into Charr, pump after large pump of sperm rushing in to fill every nook and cranny it could find and as his big, muscular body twicthed and shuddered hard against the leopard.
"Gyaaaaaaah!" Charr erupted like a volcano, splashing all over both of their chests, as well as his own thighs with his white seed.
Cassius flopped down, face burrowed in the crook of Charr's troat, breathless, he said, "You're amazing...!"
"You ain't bad yourself," Charr replied, patting Cassius's ass.
Cassius liffted his head, smile wide as it streatched. His heart thumped hard at the praise.
He pulled back to shift onto his side to sit beside Charr, both of them still naked, still sweaty and warm.
"Wish I had a cigar with me." Charr said as he scratched behind his neck.
Cassius reached for his dicarded pants and searched his pockets.
He pulled out a cigarette. "Not a cigar. Last one, you want it?" He looked Charr over.
"Eh, it'll do." He sat up, grabbing the lighter nearby.
Cassius watched Charr puff at his cigarette with a chest that could've burts from the happiness that coursed through it--Charr hadn't rejected him, had even said that he wasn't bad himself! Nothing else matterd but the moment, the butterflies fluttering through his belly even as it did flips.
Charr gave a humoured snort, "Whatcha smiling like that for, huh?" Pale, grey smoke escaped into the air as he spoke, dark eyes questioning. Butterflies erupted through Cassius belly.
He did his best not to rock back and forth were he sat. "N-Nothing. Just...happy is all." He tried to stop another smile as it treathend to spread accross his face, but failed. Yet he didn't mind at all. It was as if he sat on a cloud, free and high and so on top of the world. He felt like a king. Besides Charr he felt free.
"Glad to hear it. You seem to have been feeling down lately." Charr puffed out more smoke, and Cassius swallowed. His confusion and withdrawl hadn't gone as unnoticed as he'd thought. But how much did Charr actually suspect? Did he even suspect anything?
Should I go for it... Is now a good time? Is it ever?What...should I say? Goddamnit, I don't know!
Thoughts whirled through his mind as the rain lashed at the window. The pattering made his ears twitch and jerk. It seemed louder than it normally did. It wasn't a pleseant sound now.
Cassius turned to towards Charr suddenly, throat thick and crowded with so much to say. He briefly squeezed one hand together, pressure pulling tight at his knuckles.
"Charr...I...I'm...!"
Charr stopped mid-smoke to regard him with a serious stare. Perhaps something in his tone had tipped the sarge off but Cassius was at once too scared to keep going.
"Hm? What it is?" The leopard folded his arms, cigarette between two fingers, and Cassius had to clamp down on the impulse to take one of Charr's hands and squeeze it, as if the leopard would dissapear without a trace.
Courage faltering under the serious black stare, Cassius finally shook his head with a weak smile.
"No. It was nothing, sorry." He turned back to the window; the rain kept pouring down, but instead of making time seem to slow down, it just made the panther feel like he was watching sand fall through an hour-glass.
Was he truly prepared to face the possiblity that once he'd conffessed to Charr, the sarge very well could turn his back on him. It had happned before. Then there were the fact to consider that even if his feelings were somehow miracilously recipocrated, it wasn't as if they could just move together; Cassius had his squad to look after, and Charr had his duty as a soldier and a father to his kid, and he very much doubted that the kid would be pleased to have him move in with his father.
Mood plunging, Cassius kept his eyes on the waterdrops as they slid down the window, as if tracing them with his eyes might lead to some form of answer, yet there was none to be found. Just featurless drops that slid down the window, every single one forgotten before newer ones took their place.
Cassius leaned his chin on the back of one hand. Will Charr forget me when I leave--Just replace me with someone else? In the end, does he care about me enough to remember me? Or am I just one of countless others, one drop to slake the fire?
* * *
"Damn it. GODDMANIT!" Cassius' fist slammed into the ground as his cry echoed out over the treetops. He curled his fist into the cool, soggy soil, eyes narrowing as the need to scream began to rise in his throat again.
His eyes clenched shut. How--How could I have let this happen?! I if anyone should have seen it coming...it should have been me.
But he hadn't seen it coming when he should, and he knew why: He'd been too wraped up in checking out Charr as he strode in front of him. Again. He'd ogled like a witless, horny teenager...Mind filled with desire and the need for Charr and what they'd do in the nigh when they were alone... Had only caught the glints of the sniper rifles from the corner of his eye, and by that point it was alredy too late.
His instinctive reaction had been to tackle Charr to the ground and cover him as best he could with his own body. The palm trees had offered nothing in terms of defence, the bullets cutting through the trunks as easily as they cut through their comrade's bodies. The large leaves had rained down, stained crimson.
Cassius shook his head, tears pouring down, his face twisted in anguish and hate. "Even if I died a hundered times over it wouldn't be enough...Nothing will make up for this," He said, deep voice quivering, ragged and heavy. Soaked.
The dead could give no answer, still, somehow he'd find away to make it up to them, even if he had to die...
No. He wouldn't die, those responsible for the ambush would. But for a solider to seek vengace, would that be right...?
"There's no need to overthink this. You already know what must be done."
Charr's voice, quiet but powerful swept into his ears, sending a thrill up Cassius back; not sensual, but hard and jagged, like an knife's edge. It cemented his choice.
"Yes." Cassius rose to his feet, turned and found Charr standing tall in the blue moonlight. The same wrath burning in his eyes that burned through the panther's blood. They were in silent agreement: They'd both turn into demons, just for one night of bloody jusctice, they'd shrug off their soldier's pride and dicipline.
Just for one night of vengance.
* * *
They found the enemy huddled around a campfire. Mercenaries by the looks of them. It would make it easier. Cassius felt a wicked smirk form on his face, cold but genuine. He'd never felt enjoyment or excitment from killing before, but now his limbs trembled from adrenaline; he'd love nothing more than jump on them from the shadows, tear them apart with is supernatrual strenght, like the bullets that had torn apart his comrades.
Charr shifting in the shadows beside him, brought him back to his sense though. The excitment dulled slighty. No. He wouldn't risk Charr's well-being by getting dominated by his emotions, yet he rarely got to let lose.
He inched closer and tapped Charr on the shoulder. Those dark eyes turned on him, cold and steady; they had made their plan up before starting to track their prey through the jungle. There was no need to discuss it. Cassius nodded once in acknowledgement.
Charr nodded back.
As one they pulled the pins on their grenades. And as one they sent them in an arch into the glade.
The men around the fire had no chance to scream before the explosion swallowed up the glade in a ball of flame, smoke and debris scattering outwards in a deadly shower.
A sharp jolt shot through him as the rain of destruction continued to burn above the high moon, Charr and him had ducked down as best they could as soon as they'd thrown the grenades. Still, the heat fanned accross Cassius back and bare neck.
Cassius lay on his belly, waited for the grand satisfaction to settle over him, to wash away the guilt that had dug deep like a poisioned dart inside.
As the fire and embers whirled in front of him, the realization hit him like a dulled blow causing him to flinch.
Nothing would take the guilt away.
Cassius slumped down, hands growing slack against his sides. The raged died down into something pityfull, leaving him cold and feeling defencless. He turned to Charr, seeking comfort and guidance, yet found the leopard to gaze at the fire with a expressionless face.
Cassius turned away. No. There would be no comfort from Charr this time.
The sharp crackling of the flames cast long wicked shadows accross the clearing as they continued to whrite and twist, the palm-trees appeared twisted and contorted, as if the two of them had been transpored to hell. Cassius clenched his teeth together to keep from screaming; nothing had changed, the men were dead and so were the enemy responsible, yet the circle of death and destruction would continue to spiral, leaving the two of them trapped in it. He'd believed that he could be different, could have chosen the higher ground, stear clear of the wicked devil inside himself, prove to others that there was always a peacful solution.
He had failed.
Ethan was right. I am a monster. I shouldn't be here...and yet I'm too much of a coward to seek death now. I love life too much.
"We should leave. There could be reinforcment heading here soon." Charr's voice sounded cool and collected. Somehow, it only increased the hollow sensation that grew in Cassius' chest.
A part of Cassius that wasn't numb responded and found the strenght to make the rest of him rise to his feet. Mutly, he nodded his consent and began to head back the way day came.
They slipped into the shadows of the foliage together; two ghosts in the blue gloom. Even though the night's silence closed in around them, the flickering light of the glade's raging fire diminishing into the darkness, growing dimmer and dimmer, Cassius could swear that accusing eyes stared holes into the back of his neck all the while, as the moon's disspasionate eye followed their silent retreat.